The United States Department of Transportation, USDOT, issued a new rule today that prohibits U.S. aircraft on domestic routes from remaining on a tarmac for more than three hours with passengers aboard. The only exceptions would be for “safety or security or if air traffic control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations. U.S. carriers operating international flights departing from or arriving in the United States must specify, in advance, their own time limits for deplaning passengers, with the same exceptions applicable.” Read more